Cape Town has been fairly frustrating for us as far as getting photos are concerned. At the moment it is still school holidays, or rather Christmas holidays, everyone is away!
The team trains at the foot of Table Mountain
In our quest for soccer photos in South Africa, we have often ventured into the poorer communities, I have not yet seen children play soccer on the street in a affluent leafy suburb, thus the areas where poverty is more visible is also where you get the beautiful African scenery. Children play barefoot, unworried by the thorns and bits of broken glass that sometimes litter the field. But in South African cities, this is also unfortunately where crime and seedy characters are often present.
So with 40 degree heatwave, Christmas Holidays and dodgy areas all against us, we started the 150 km drive to different areas around Cape Town’s outlying areas where we thought we might find some soccer.
The field looks down on Cape Town City
We started by driving to The Strand, around 10 km’s of beachside haven about half an hour east of Cape Town city. With white sandy beaches and warm ocean water (up to 21 degrees I am assured by a local diver) we were sure we would find a game of beach soccer somewhere. We were not disappointed, at least not at first. It turns out that one of the Cape Town areas most popular beaches was so packed we could not find a park anywhere nearby where we saw soccer. So we decided to head for another location.
We followed the road that hugs the coast all the way to Muizenberg, part of the greater Cape Town area and a popular surfing spot. Along the way fishermen were periodically dotted along the coast, a few kitesurfers enjoyed the windy afternoon and an ocean of seagulls, looking for an easy feed, took turns to hover in the air above the road and beach. Again we were disappointed as there was no real soccer happening, there were a few kids walking along the beach kicking a ball, but nothing worthy of pictures.
One of the team shows off his skill with Cape Town as a backdrop
Our last chance was a deserted area around Cape Town CBD, a picturesque soccer field that we had seen on a scouting drive a few days ago. It was getting late, and we decided to just do a drive-by before heading home. We were in luck, as we drove up we saw 4 guys in some soccer gear with a ball!
We approached the men hesitantly, but as with all the previous occasions, they greeted us with open arms and big smiles. They were happy for us to take pictures of their training session. Because of holidays, the others from their team could not be there.
The boys get together for a group photo
The field itself sits at the foot of Table Mountain, Cape Town’s most recognisable icon, and looks out upon the whole CBD and harbour area on the other side. As the setting sun lit up the scene, the guys showed off a few moves in front of the spectacular backdrop. The higher you can get in these circumstances, the better. Keturah got on my neck to get better elevation. A lady with a camera ordering around her ‘ladder’ while trying to keep steady and take pictures, it must have been a sight to behold.
The guys explained that they were from Sudan and had lived in South Africa for many years. They were avid soccer followers and very excited about the World Cup. One of the men said he already had his tickets for three of the games. He barracks for South Africa (Bafana Bafana) but did not think that they could go all the way to the final although he was very hopeful of one African team at least going all the way.
As we left, the guys did some goal kicking practice in front one of the most spectacular backdrops in South Africa, before calling it a day.
Cheers
Morne de Klerk
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